


The Art of Comprehension

by redolater



Category: A Crown of Candy - Fandom, Dimension 20 (Web Series)
Genre: (if you squint), Banter Is Just Flirting, Character Study, Dimension 20: A Crown of Candy - Freeform, Enemies to Lovers, Leo?, M/M, Sad Old Gay Men, Sort of like a gay pre-canon, Theopin, a crown of candy, i’ve heard both, the inherent eroticism of caring for someone deeply
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:54:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24483109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redolater/pseuds/redolater
Summary: Lapin just doesn’t understand Theobald.
Relationships: Lapin Cadbury/Theobald Gumbar
Comments: 8
Kudos: 83





	The Art of Comprehension

Lapin Cadbury was not an especially generous man. Not in money, not in smiles, not in friendship, nor in love. This is not to say that Lapin was greedy, it is more to say that he was cautious. Overly-cautious, maybe. When one spends his whole career convincing people that he’s something he’s not, and when one’s entire future hangs in the balance at every waking moment, it’s wisest to play it safe. It’s wisest to keep enough money to yourself so you have something to fall back on. And if he got too attached to someone, he’d end up bringing them down with him. He couldn’t afford to do that to someone.

Consequently, Sir Theobald Gumbar perplexed him. 

For a knight, especially for the head of the (fully not) esteemed Tart Guard, Lapin always found Theobald too giving. Too willing to put himself in danger. Too reckless, and especially, too generous. Even when Theobald went out to search for the princesses when they skipped Lapin’s lessons, he was gentle to them. Lapin always suggested they tell Queen Carmelinda and punish them, but ceaselessly Theobald urged him not to. Even when a particularly unpromising member of the Tart Guard could’ve been relieved of service, Theobald allowed them to stay and helped them improve on his own time. 

Lapin, for the life of him, could never do such a thing. If he had an apprentice who knocked too many books off the shelves, or repeatedly misunderstand orders, Lapin would expel them without a second thought. This was something he told Theobald, when they were arguing in the Castle Candy library one evening. 

“Why give up on someone you could help?” Theobald demanded, smacking his gummy fist down on the table. “You don’t know if they have a thing to return to, Lapin, what if you cut someone off who needed the work? Needed the education?”

Lapin groaned, slamming the tome he was glancing over shut. The conversation they were making evolved into quite a distraction. “Competence is important when you’re training someone in the field of knowledge, Theobald. Perhaps you can shove a sword into the hand of any moron and call them a knight, but I...” he lowered his voice, though there wasn’t another soul in sight. “I couldn’t take any chances if I were to teach someone magic! Do you understand me, you thick-headed clod?”

Theobald’s eyebrows furrowed deeply at that. He could fill a book with all the names Lapin had thrown at him. Every insult struck harder when it involved his intelligence. “Chancellor, I understand what you’re saying, but I don’t understand why.” His voice crumbled when Lapin turned away to return to his book. “Chancellor?” Theo tried again, to no avail. 

Lapin returned to the task at hand to ease his temper, mostly, but also to upset Theobald. His ears flicked in distinct annoyance as he reopened the book he was reading. They came down to the library in order to find information on the extended family of Jorin Jawbreaker at the request of King Amethar himself. Little was recorded of him, but there was mention of a wife three books ago that kept them going on a lead. It was a fool’s errand to find new information in an ages-old library, but truth be told, Lapin secretly enjoyed Theobald’s company. His banter was a delight and their conversations were good. 

Except this one. Lapin despised it when Theobald called him ‘Chancellor’, especially in private. It was a part of his habitual formality, but Lapin liked to hear his name. He liked to know that Theobald was talking to him, not a colleague. It made him feel more like a person. 

“Chancellor, this is ridiculous! We are grown men, don’t give me the silent treatment.” There was a secret whimper to his voice that reminded Lapin of a child whining. “Chancellor,” Theobald repeated, leaning down on the opposite side of the table where Lapin sat. Instead of responding, though, he just kept reading. It infuriated Theobald. “Chancellor, do you understand me?”

This gave Lapin pause. His eyes flicked up from the pages of the tome, filled with a fire that Theobald hardly ever saw. The lines in his face were drawn almost into a snarl. “Theobald, I will never understand you,” he said, intending on yelling, but finding himself unable to. How could he scream at the face of a man who looked shocked or scared enough to run from him? “You give, and you give, and you give, and you give, and eventually you’re going to run out of stuff to give, do you know that? Your selflessness is a gamble, Theobald, and I can’t understand that.” 

Undeniable tenderness bled through his words. A tenderness that melted Theobald’s heart. He started to say, “Chancellor, I—“ but he was cut off sharply.  
“Call me Lapin, you ninny.” Lapin ordered. Theobald could never disobey an order.  
“...Lapin. Doing good for others is my payment. Service fulfills me. Maybe that is what you don’t understand. I’ll always give my time and energy...and someday, my life, if it means I’ve defended the king and his daughters or someone I care for.”

His words twisted in Lapin’s gut in a way he’d never known. “You’d give your life?” The Chancellor whispered after a beat, somehow knowing the answer but still asking. Theobald responded with a somber nod. “I don’t know if I could do such an honorable thing,” Lapin mumbled.  
Never before had Theobald gotten so personal with Lapin. He decided to prod deeper by saying, “I think, if it came down to it, you could. You aren’t a bad man, Lapin.” His words sat awkwardly in the space between them. It was an attempt at an intimacy that he didn’t realize. Theobald added, “I think I’d give my life for you.”

Oh. 

Lapin’s gaze softened. His words caught in his throat. He felt his face get hot, and his palms get a little clammy, and for some reason, his jaw shut so tightly, it was like his body was shutting down his ability to speak. His reaction to that simple statement (which wasn’t really a simple statement at all) was all too physical for Lapin’s taste.  
Theobald immediately stood from his seat. “Well, uh, hmm. This, umm, it’s getting late, I’m sure I’ve..I apologize for, uh, overstepping my boundaries. Good night to you, Chanc— Lapin, and um, yes, my sincerest apologies.” He turned as fast as he could and all but sprinted towards the large library doors. A newly paralyzed Lapin attempted to keep his voice level as he called out, “Theobald, wait!”

And truly, Theobald could not disobey an order. 

He halted in his tracks, several tables away, as if he were a foot-soldier again, commanded to stop by his sergeant. He didn’t dare to turn back to face Lapin until he said, “Come back, please.” Theo had never heard a ‘please’ from Lapin in his life. It was a rare delight. He turned around and approached the table again, cautiously and slowly, but obedient. Lapin raised his head to lock eyes with the knight who stood towering over him. 

Then he stood, almost matching Theobald’s height, but not quite. Lapin sighed, searching for something to say or do, eventually settling on murmuring, “You’d give your life for me.” He said, understanding the what but not the why yet again. “This means...” Lapin’s voice cracked. “This means you care for me?” This was something that he couldn’t comprehend.  
“Yes,” Theobald answered, a little too earnestly. “I have a duty to protect you, as a servant to the House of Rocks.” He found, somehow, that he’d taken Lapin’s hands into his own, without knowing when, and without complaint from Lapin. “But, Lapin, I..” he stuttered. “I care for you. I think I care for you more than titles, more than honor. More than what constitutes as my service to you.” 

Grumpy and snide Lapin Cadbury, the very same Lapin who had just recently insulted Theobald, leaned forward to close the space between himself and the other man. A kiss. Lapin had not kissed anyone in decades. He had too much to lose. He couldn’t give himself to anyone for fear of losing himself in the process.  
Maybe it was poetic that he spared a kiss for Theobald Gumbar, the most generous man he’d ever met. Lapin gave. Theo dutifully received.  
So in that library, they kissed, and Lapin cupped Theobald’s face when they parted. “Theobald,” he said, in a nearly unrecognizable voice. “I think I care for you, too. I-I don’t understand you. Or why you make me feel so..warm? I don’t understand how you could care for an old bastard like me.”

“Could you give me the rest of my time in this world to figure you out?”  
Theobald forgot honor for the first time in that library. He forgot the name of his king, he forgot his duties, he forgot why he was in a library in the first place. He only knew a few things: he was almost crying, he was saying, “Yes, of course,” and he was leaning in for another kiss as if he needed kisses like he needed to breathe and eat. 

And for the first time, Lapin learned how wonderful it felt to be generous with his love.

**Author's Note:**

> It’s short and sweet! Thanks for reading, and as always, comments and Kudos make my day!


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